Richard Dunne scored a terrible own goal to condemn Villa to defeat as they lost 1-0 at Sunderland.
Communication breakdown cuts off Houllier's men
Richard Dunne scored a terrible own goal to condemn Aston Villa to another away defeat in the Premier League as they lost 1-0 to Sunderland.
The Villa centre-back poked the ball in at the wrong end in the 25th minute at the Stadium of Light after being involved in a dreadful communication breakdown with fellow defender James Collins and goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
Dunne's mistake, his record eighth Premier League own goal, allowed Steve Bruce's Sunderland to end a run of five previous draws and condemned Villa to a fourth away defeat this season.
Villa claimed for three penalties during the match after challenges on Nigel Reo-Coker, Emile Heskey and Stewart Downing, but referee Mark Halsey waved away the protests.
Sunderland's over-reliance on Darren Bent's goals has become a theme for manager Bruce in recent weeks, and it is not difficult to see why.
Of the 10 goals they had managed before Saturday, Bent had contributed seven and record signing Asamoah Gyan two, with Stephen Carr's own-goal making up the total.
Bruce has challenged the rest of his team to help out on that front, and when they got their noses in front this afternoon, it was, for once, not Bent who did the damage.
Deadlock
It will have mattered little to the Black Cats that the decisive touch on Steed Malbranque's 25th minute cross came from Villa defender Dunne, who in the process put own goals level with Gyan as the club's second top scorer.
Up until that point, there had been little between the sides - indeed, the visitors might themselves had been in front had Downing's third minute shot not come back off the foot of the post.
Reo-Coker had also seen a strong penalty appeal waved away by referee Halsey after he had gone down under the close attentions of Lee Cattermole and Titus Bramble, and Nedum Onuoha's well-timed 16th minute challenge prevented Stephen Ireland from reaching Heskey's dangerous cross in front of goal.
But once Dunne had inadvertently broken the deadlock, the impetus was very much with the home side, and they might have increased their lead within two minutes.
Ahmed Elmohamady found space down the right and squared for Danny Welbeck, whose first-time shot was expertly palmed away by goalkeeper Friedel.
Elmohamady himself whistled a right-foot effort just wide three minutes before the break after being set up by Bent, and although Villa finished the half with a flurry, Simon Mignolet was rarely troubled.
The Belgian should really have been called into action three minutes after the restart when Heskey turned Michael Turner on halfway and fed the ball into Ireland's run.
However, the midfielder checked inside as he reached the penalty area and the covering Bramble did just enough to dispossess him.
Late flurry
Mignolet was called upon two minutes later after Ashley Young collected Downing's pass and forced a solid save, although as the game became more stretched, the Black Cats were finding space at the other end too.
But Villa were starting to make their presence felt and they went close to an equaliser three times within as many minutes.
First Heskey was dispossessed by the covering Bramble in front of goal, although the former England strike was guilty of a glaring miss seconds later when he completely missed his kick after Downing's cross evaded Mignolet.
The Sunderland goalkeeper then had to claw substitute Steve Sidwell's 63rd minute header off the line with the home defence struggling to clear their lines.
Mignolet was in action again with 19 minutes remaining to beat away Marc Albrighton's shot, and Dunne hacked a volley across the face of goal seconds later with Villa dominating.
But despite a late flurry, the home side held out to claim all three points with Dunne denying Bent a late strike with a well-timed tackle.
| Sunderland |
Team Statistics |
Aston Villa |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 4 |
Corners |
11 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 70.5 |
Passing Success |
70 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
18 |
| 73.7 |
Tackles Success |
72.2 |
| 48.3 |
Possession |
51.7 |
| 53.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.6 |
|
